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Our Homeschool Journey and Lunches Thanks to Planetbox

This post is in partner with PlanetBox. We received this item in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. Please read my disclaimer page for more information.

Now that I’ve had a little time to get into a groove with school this year, I am ready to share more about it. I decided I was going to homeschool Nolan, three weeks before he was to start public school. I did this for many reasons but the biggest is that last year, my lifestyle wasn’t respected. It was really hard on me emotionally and Nolan physically with all the junk that was given to him all of the time. Don’t get me wrong, his teachers were amazing and he loved them but other than that, it wasn’t something I was thrilled about.

I could talk your ear off about all the other reasons it brought me to this point but the most important is that it just felt right! I prayed about it constantly and all of the answers I got back were to move forward as his primary teacher. This scared me to death and really make me thankful for the assistance of wonderful women that homeschool their child. One of them suggested I join a co op to take the pressure off of me to find all of his curriculums and have a net of women who could help me along this path. It’s also amazing to have a group of almost 70 kids for him and Harper to see every week!

Monday – Friday we wake up, eat breakfast and start our homeschool lessons. We follow Classical Conversations, Saxon Math and All About Reading curriculums and from about 9-12:30 we have school. This is different on Tuesdays because we are at Co Op in a neighboring town from 9-12:30. In the afternoons, we normally do our crafts for the day and then read our weight in books. Seriously, Nolan will know how to read by the end of this year! That blows my mind but sets a great goal for him and myself.

Now, I am in control of the one thing that I couldn’t last year which is what foods he eats. He is SUCH a better kid without the overload of junk and sugar! His entire demeanor has changed and he LOVES doing his lessons. Some days are harder than others but we always take a break when it gets hard and go run around outside. Burning energy always means coming back in for water and a snack and we go through another lesson.

The night before we leave to go to CO OP, Harper, Nolan and myself go into the kitchen and pack our lunches for the next day. I’ve always loved the PlanetBox lunch boxes and this year he finally got one! He LOVES it and I’ve found that he likes to make his lunches more creatively and with more real foods when he uses it. His school is nut free so it’s been a challenge sticking to things that aren’t even processed in a facility with nuts! But we are working on our lunch selections outside of that and it’s not disappointing. Why did we pick PlanetBox for the kids? PlanetBox will serve as your guide for what and how much to pack. They take “non-toxic, non-leaching, safe from BPA, phthalates, and lead” very seriously – in fact, it’s why they designed PlanetBox! Why should you pay this much for a lunchbox? Because it’s cheaper to buy food in bulk and pack your own meal. Because your health is worth it. And because it’s an investment your family will use every single day for many years to come – over its lifetime, it will pay off in spades. This isn’t your childhood flimsy tin lunchbox. The high quality stainless steel is warrantied for 5 years, and has been known to survive getting thrown off the school bus (not that they recommend that). Dishwasher safe? Heck yeah. Peanut butter left for a week? No problem – the stainless steel doesn’t retain yucky food odors or stains like those unfortunate plastic containers do.

If you want more information about the connection between foods and children’s behavior and what effect it takes on their bodies, I suggest reading The Dirt Cure. It’s an amazing book and thanks to Amazon prime is affordable and ships quickly. That’s been a great reference for me to understand the connection.

If y’all have any more questions about my children’s diet or schooling, please comment on this post or send me an email!

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Comments

Amanda, you will love homeschooling! I did it with my two boys for 11 years. In the 10th grade, my oldest went to a private Christian school and my youngest went to that school in 9th grade. I loved homeschooling them! Best decision I ever made! They are now in college and do better than I could even imagine!

I love these lunch boxes! It’s so important to teach kids to eat healthy and it’s easier with these boxes as you can pack things that are healthy and easy to manage without using so many containers or using up plastic ziploc bags 🙂